Infosys chooses Salil Parekh to helm ship in troubled waters

NEW DELHI: Four months after former executive vice-chairman Vishal Sikka quit amidst a miasma of acrimony, IT major Infosys announced its pick for chief executive officer and managing director (CEO & MD) on Saturday.

To take over the reins from interim CEO & MD Pravin Rao from January 2 is Capgemini group veteran Salil S Parekh.Parekh, who will be the second outsider after Sikka to helm the executive operations of the firm, is not a stranger to Infosys.

In 2014, the last time Infosys was looking for a CEO & MD, Parel along with Sikka was a top contender. Back then, Infosys’ selection panel had opted for Sikka, fresh from establishing himself as an industry leader at SAP’s product development team. It looks like Parekh has piped all other contenders this time round. 

But, as Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani stated on Saturday, Parekh is an industry heavyweight in his own right -- both in India and the US, both regions where he played a crucial role in Capgemini. 

“We are delighted to have Salil joining as the CEO & MD of Infosys. He has nearly three decades of global experience in the IT services industry. He has a strong track record of executing business turnarounds and managing very successful acquisitions.

The Board believes that he is the right person to lead Infosys at this transformative time in our industry,” Nilekani gushed. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairperson of the Nomination & Remuneration Committee, added that Parekh “was the top choice from a pool of highly qualified candidates”. 

Parekh made his name exponentially expanding the French IT major’s India arm -- playing a vital role in increasing its employee count from around 300 in 2000 to over 60,000 in 2015. Park has also been one of the five deputy CEOs at Capgemini group and is currently a member of the Group Executive Board. 

Parekh, who will take over from Rao on January 2, begins a five-year stint in what is arguably Indian IT and Infosys’ most tumultuous period in history. 

India’s industry, however, seems to feel that one of its bellwethers has found the right man for the job — finally, with apex body Nasscom’s president R Chandrasekhar speaking to Express that it “brings the curtain down on various issues which rose when Vishal Sikka left Infosys”.